CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH
** Violence: From A Child's Eyes
**Schools and Communities Respond
**What We Need to Know About Boys

UNDERSTANDING VIOLENCE
**Community Solutions
**As Seen On TV…
**Media Against Violence
**Gun Use

POLICY-MAKERS SAY...

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LET'S TALK ABOUT LITTLETON – ONLINE (add link)
We all grieve for those killed in Littleton, Colorado. And for the families,
friends and teachers who loved and nurtured them.

Communities need answers. Just as it was with Pearl, Paducah, Jonesboro, and
other traumatized towns, people everywhere will struggle to understand "what
went wrong" in the lives of the teens who committed these horrific murders.

But as someone who thinks carefully about the lives of children and
families, you know the country needs to consider harder questions:
-What do we need to know about unmet needs in the lives of today's kids and
families?
-What are the root causes of violence and loss of empathy?
-What child and family services and policies should be created or improved?

-How can adults -- parents, mentors, neighbors, religious leaders, teachers
-- stay engaged with kids and help them through difficult times?
-And what is our response to the thousands of "everyday" child deaths that
will never been questioned or reported on the front pages of newspapers?

Join our online discussion. And be sure to let us know what you are already
doing – how you give kids positive support in your community. Will you
contact your member of Congress
(http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/congress.html) to discuss violence
and its impact on children? Are you passing Connect for Kids resources to
people at your places of worship or work?

Talk to us. We need your voice.

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CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH
**Violence: From A Child's Eyes (http://www.pbs.org/jobs/canadabook.html)
"The summer is the worst time for the children I know. More of them are
outside. Too hot and too boring to be inside… By the time they shot little
Luis in the head in August, sixty other innocent bystanders under sixteen
had been shot that year in New York City. There would be more. It really is
getting worse. Too many guns, too much crack, too few jobs, so little hope."

So begins Geoffrey Canada's much-heralded memoir Fist Stick Knife Gun
(Beacon Press, 1995); read four important excerpts from Canada's book and
learn more about the daily threat of violence in children's lives.

**What We Need to Know About Boys
Many child development experts agree that when boys feel frustrated and in
need, they are more likely than girls to turn their anger outward. What kind
of supports do boys need to grow up healthy and secure? How can we build
communities that ensure boys' healthy development? This Newsweek article by
Barbara Kantrowitz and Claudia Kalb affirms that we have to understand boys
in order to help them grow into productive members of society
(http://cgi.newsweek.com/cgi-bin/nwframe?url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.
com/nw-srv/issue/19_98a/printed/us/fm0119.htm).

What is conflict resolution? This guide from the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention
(http://www.ncjrs.org/cnfres.htm) explains how arts training and mentoring
can help kids blow off steam.

**As Seen On TV…
When young people's actions seem to mirror violent acts from movies and TV,
adults look to research and resources on the effects of media violence on
children. Here are some resources on the Web:

**Media Against Violence
MTV and the American Psychological Association launch a year-long
anti-violence campaign called "Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand Against
Violence." The first program, "Warning Signs," airs April 22 at 4:30 p.m.
(ET/PT), repeating April 23 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), April 27 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT),
and April 25 at noon (ET/PT). A free companion guide covers many of the
show's topics -- the reasons for violent behavior, how to recognize violence
warning signs in others, how to manage your own anger, and warning signs for
potential self-violence. Contacts: 800-268-0078; http://helping.apa.org.

As part of the "Fight for Your Rights" campaign, psychologists will meet
with community groups and student classes to discuss violence, beginning in
May. Call 800-268-8490.

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POLICY-MAKERS SAY…
** At an already-planned panel discussion on bipartisan efforts to improve
public education this morning, many policy-makers expressed their grief over
Littleton and called for specific efforts to ensure safety in our nation's
schools.

Education Secretary Richard Riley called on "all of us responsible for
children" to be sure guns, weapons, and explosives remain well locked up and
out of the hands of children. He also noted the Education Department's
efforts to provide guidance and funding to ensure school safety, citing the
handbook "Timely Warning, Appropriate Response" and the Department's new
major initiative, in partnership with the Departments of Justice and Health
and Human Services, to fund violence prevention collaboratives in 50
communities -- the Safe Schools, Healthy Students Initative.

Bob Chase, president of the National Education Association, fought to keep
his composure, saying: "None of us has the right to be a bystander on this
issue … Whether we have children ourselves or not, we as adults have a
responsibility to community ... to stop the glorification of violence ...
and to stop young people's access to this kind of weaponry."

Representative Goodling (R-Pa.), a former teacher, described a program in
his state that connects high school students as "buddies" with early
elementary school kids who are often absent from school. Representative
Marge Roukema (R-N.J.) is introducing legislation designed to set a higher
priority for mental health services for students.

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About Connect for Kids
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The Connect for Kids Weekly is an electronic newsletter of Connect for Kids
(http://www.connectforkids.org), an action and information center for
citizens, businesses and parents who want to make their communities work
for kids. The Benton Foundation works to realize the social benefits made
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